The Interwebs are all abuzz with the latest rumor: The 4-48, on-pace-to-be-the-worst-team-ever New Jersey Nets are targeting Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski to be their coach next season.
It seems that the first to jump on the bandwagon was The Bergen County Record's Al Iannazzone. His story, headlined "Source: Mike Krzyzewski expected to be candidate to coach Nets next season," cites "an NBA source with knowledge of the organization's thinking" -- and no one else -- to make the case that Krzyzewski is the Nets' first choice. Iannazzone goes on to say that Nets team president Rod Thorn "is in the final year of his contract and hasn’t been told whether he will get an extension or new deal," and as such has not yet started a coaching search. Thorn is expected to meet with the Nets' Russian billionaire owner this weekend so that he can learn his fate.
To summarize: A single unnamed source, who apparently knows more about the organization's plans than the president of the team, thinks that the Nets might want to go after Coach K this offseason. Got it.
But wait, there's more baseless speculation!
Today, yahoo.com's Adrian Wojnarowski writes -- of course, without a single quotation -- that not only is there a possibility that Coach K is at the top of the Nets' wishlist, but that they might intend to convince him by hiring Jerry Colangelo -- with whom Krzyzewski has closely worked in his duties for Team USA.
Krzyzewski has turned down several NBA overtures through the years – Boston, Los Angeles and Portland most prominent among them – and has a chance to coach long enough to break Bob Knight’s record for career victories. Even so, Krzyzewski’s close personal relationship with Colangelo and a chance to construct an NBA franchise with virtually unmatched resources in the world’s biggest market would probably have to give him pause.
So, summarizing again: Coach K has turned down the NBA numerous times before -- including opportunities to coach two of the league's marquee franchises -- but this time, since his good buddy Jerry Colangelo is involved, an offer from the Nets would probably make him think hard about jumping to the NBA. If all that sounds convoluted, it's because it is.
For the record, Wojnarowski's story involves five coulds and a probably; Iannazzone's has seven coulds and a probably.
Personally, I'm not buying any of this until I see a story with a real, live attributed quote. For now, this quote, from Coach K's news conference this summer, will have to do: "I'm not leaving Duke.... Whatever you hear about anything like that, I would never leave Duke until I leave coaching. Anything else that's being said would be just somebody saying stuff."
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